Your help needed to rescue cats from hoarder

“I could smell it as soon as I entered the apartment building. As I walked up to the fourth floor the smell got stronger and stronger. Knocking on her

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, Nov 9, 2009

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“I could smell it as soon as I entered the apartment building. As I walked up to the fourth floor the smell got stronger and stronger. Knocking on her door, I knew I was not going to be happy with what I was about to see,” said Maggie Shaarawi, one of the founders of Animals Lebanon.

“An old woman came to the door but did not want to let me in. There were no lights on and the smell was terrible. I showed her the cat food I brought and told her how much I love cats. This was all it took to gain some trust, and she opened the door for me to come in.”

Recently, Animals Lebanon received a call from the Beirut Municipality concerning an elderly woman living with a large number of cats. The neighbors in the building were filing a law suit against this woman as the conditions had become so bad that they could barely live there anymore. We were suspicious at first as sometimes people exaggerate greatly just because they don’t like animals.

The Municipality was under orders to catch the cats and remove them from the building, but not knowing how to catch them they called Animals Lebanon for help. Animals Lebanon pleaded with the Municipality, asking them to hold off on any action and that we would see what was going on and how we could help.

“The door only opened halfway, but as it did the smell became overwhelming. There was no electricity and very little light. I used my mobile phone as a flashlight to be able to see a bit, and realized the door did not open because there was so much trash behind it. There were things everywhere, old bottles, mattresses, furniture, newspapers, all piled up in the tiny apartment. And then I started to notice the cats – their eyes shining from the light from my phone, quiet meows seemed to come from everywhere.”

Click here to learn how Animals Lebanon is rescuing these cats and making sure the woman is cared for, and see what you can do now to help.

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